He was just a name on our tree, until I started finding his story. Now he is very dear to me. Somehow and for some reason as yet unexplained, I feel connected to William Browne.
It can't be geography. William Browne was born in Rusper, Sussex, England in 1593, when Queen Elizabeth still had ten years to live. Sussex is on the south east coast of England, and Rusper is on the northern edge of Sussex, now relatively close to London but not so much 425 years ago. William was the son of Rev. Joseph and Margaret Patching, so perhaps it's the preacher's kid connection, but it seems more than that.
William grew up in a large family of perhaps as many as eight children, so it is somewhat surprising that he was able to obtain an education. He became a schoolmaster and apparently taught up until his departure for the new world in 1645. (As mentioned many times, this is where I can't "connect". The bravery of these people is beyond all of my understanding but commands my utmost respect.)
By the time the family came over, William had been married to Jane Mills since 1611. She was the daughter of Thomas and Margaret Mills. Again, they had a large family of nine children, which makes one wonder how they survived on a schoolmaster's salary. Only three of the children are known to have come to the New World-Henry, Phebe, and Mary. The voyage over must have been horrific, because wife Jane and their eldest son John both died of smallpox on the voyage. How frightening that must have been for all of the passengers, and how disheartening for William!
William first went to Saybrook, Connecticut but seems to have stayed there only a short time. His daughter Mary married Robert Marvin and William made his home with them at Southampton, Long Island, New York. This was already a whaling community, so the opportunities for trading were good and William made his living as a merchant.
One wonders why the family went to Long Island. Was it for more religious freedom? Was it economics? Was it land? Since William's son Henry went to Rhode Island, a reasonable guess might be that religion had something to do with it, but we will probably never know for sure.
William seems to have been a respected man for he was made a freeman at Southampton in 1648 and shared in a division of lands later that year. He signed some sort of register on July 2, 1650 but three weeks later his daughter and her husband applied for administration of his estate., so his death must have been sudden. His inventory was taken the next day and valued at 165 pounds. I guess what blesses me is that of this, his books were valued at 5 pounds. He and I share a love of books. I wish I knew what books he owned, because that would tell us much more about him.
William may or may not have lead a fairly easy life in Rusper, but his tragic losses on the voyage here and then his efforts to begin a new life on Long Island are the stories that should be told in a movie. I can't do it justice in a blog post.
The line of descent is:
William Brown-Jane Mills (some say Jane Burgis)
Henry Browne-Waite Waterman
Richard Browne-Mary Pray
Deborah Browne-Othniel Brown (no apparent relationship)
Sarah Brown-Enos Eddy
Enos Eddy-Deborah Paine
Joseph Brown Eddy-Susan Lamphire
Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants
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